Wednesday, 8 July 2015

Getting started in World of Warships

One of the things that use to frustrate my game-playing friends about the way I approached World of Tanks was that I 'didn't take it seriously'. I didn't learn how to use the tanks 'properly', I didn't use some of the third-party 'mods' that indicated tanks weak spots and I never really made the best use of 'armour angling'.

Well, I have started playing Wargaming.net's new naval warfare arcade-sim called - predictably - World of Warships and this time I thought I'd look into the theory of how to play the game rather than just 'winging it' (as I did in WoT)!

This time I'm making a conscious effort not to do so many 'stupid things'. And I have began as I mean to go on by actually watching some of the very good quality game tutorials that are available online. YouTube game-bloggers like iChaseGaming, BaronVonGamez, eNtaK, PhlyDaily and many more upload oodles of 'how to' videos regarding World of Warships...

As much as anything some of these guides are very interesting and do give something of a historical background to some of the issues that WW2 naval commanders had to consider when going into battle. Techniques and tactics like fleet cooperation, gun laying, mutual support and armour angling (yes this can be as important with a ship as it is with a tank) are not only going to help you last longer but also help your team performance improve as well.

There is a danger that you can approach WoWS as if you are playing pirates, sailing directly at an opponent and trying to slug it out with broadsides...This is mistake number one!

YAR! ...Er, NOT how you should play World of Warships!

More so than World of Tanks it's your primary assets - aircraft carriers and battleships - that will dictate the result of the game and every other class is simply a supporting role. While in World of Tanks everyone seemed to think that their tank - no matter what class - could have a major impact on the direction of the game (however misguided that was) with World of Warships nearly every game I have played has been dictated by how well the battleships have been supported and used.

So, the short story is - if you want to be a part of a winning team in WoWS learn your role!

(I know World of Tank enthusiasts will point our that that is how WoT should be approached as well, but it was my experience that because the majority of players 'played for themselves' in public games the game outcomes in Tanks were a lot more random. Clan Battles were a different thing.)
Moreover, the difference in power between a destroyer and a battleship is so much more apparent than the difference between a light tank and a heavy tank. This is particularly evident because on the high seas there is no where to hide!

You won't be playing World of Warships long before you start hearing players talking aboutthe 'citadel'. It's the WoWS holy grail of 'good hits' and yet you are very much left to findout just what it's all about yourself - here's a video that will demystify this WoWS jargon.

I will let you know how my new found gaming ethos will pan out. At the very least if I take things a bit more seriously I shouldn't annoy my team-mates as much! (In theory.) ;)